(7) The Book of Mark : The Immediately Attack

 Mark 1:12-13

And immediately the Spirit driveth Him into the wilderness

And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan: and was with the wild beasts, and the angels ministered to Him.

Jesus got a well-pleased from God and "immediately" He was tried, his commitment challenged, and tested.  Nothing was easy for Jesus.  In the Book of Matthew, it says He fasted forty days.  Jesus was fresh from anointing and now thrown into hunger, thirst, danger, and temptation, alone in the wilderness.  In Matthew it also said, Jesus was tempted three times of the devil and after all this is when the angels came and ministered to Him. The ministry of Jesus had a rough start.  But it wasn't Satan who drove Jesus into the wilderness. It was the Spirit.  God knows we must be tried to know who and whose we are.

Have you ever been taken and tempted in some wilderness in your life?  Did it seem to come "immediately" after some special mountaintop experience?  It has for me, so much so that I am a little afraid of mountaintop experiences as they often signal "duck- incoming."   

There is a saying that "thieves don't break into empty houses and dogs don't chase park cars."   Satan won't bother you much as long as you stand still with your faith.  Job done. It is when I seem to be moving and growing in my faith that Satan just won't leave me alone.  It is a pretty good sign that I am on the right track.

I remember studying and having, what I thought a really good Sunday School lesson.  I was happy about it and thrilled by the experience of getting to present it.  That Sunday morning getting into the car to go to church, my wife and I got into an argument.  My mood was dampened and clouded, and all I could think about was what she said, I said, and she should have and all that. Then I caught myself and caught Satan at his game.  Stop the car and let's pray. It did indeed turn out to be a great lesson not because I taught it but because God blessed it and Satan was overcome this time.  Knowing all this, I still watch for that "immediately" attack that often follows a blessed experience.  Amen

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